MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Jon Tevlin
One was a gregarious Irishman who focused his ministry on social justice, racism and poverty. The other was a stern, hierarchical leader bent on returning orthodoxy to the church and blocking same-sex marriage.
Archbishops Harry Flynn and John Nienstedt couldn’t be further apart in beliefs and style, but now they are inexorably linked in the sex scandals and criminal charges that have rocked the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Nienstedt has suffered the spectacular public fall after resigning on Monday, and many are happy to see him go. But charges filed by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi suggest that many of the bungled cases of priests accused or convicted of child abuse began under Flynn and his right-hand man at the time, vicar general Kevin McDonough.
Flynn is retired and has kept a low public profile, refusing interviews. McDonough remains pastor at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in St. Paul, which also runs a school. Others who have been complicit in a failure to protect children and/or a coverup, serve on nonprofit boards and generally go on with their public lives.
But that does not mean their legacies will not also be seriously tainted.
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